About Me
Fulbright Disclaimer: This is not an official Department of State website or blog, and the views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program of the U.S. Department of State.
Adam Lax, MA Contact e-mail: adamplax(at)gmail.com China ELT Policy Background The unforeseen twists and turns of post-undergraduate life in 2008 eventually led me to accept an English language teaching position at Guangxi University in 2010. One year teaching at Guangxi University eventually turned into three years. After three years filled with moments of self-fulfillment and frustration as an English instructor in China, I returned to the US as a masters graduate student at the University of Maryland. During that time, through my classes and research papers, I sought to make sense of the personal experiences I had in China as an English instructor. I knew from my firsthand experience how important and popular learning English was in China. I wanted to know more on a structural level about why the English learning phenomenon had developed and its implications for a country rapidly developing into a global heavyweight. My lingering interest in English language teaching policy in China subsequently spurred my desire to pursue a Fulbright research grant in China after finishing my masters degree. Aims for this blog Rather then write a laundry list of the activities I do in China and thoughts I have about the country, I hope to have particular focus/theme for each blog entry. I want to connect my previous experiences in China with my current ones. Also, I would like to share the insights I gain from my Chinese studies and research work as well as noteworthy anecdotes and experiences. Fulbright critical language enhancement award (CLEA) From late August until the middle of December, 2015 I was in Harbin, China (in the far northeast of China near the border of Russia) participating in an intensive language program at Harbin Institute of Technology funded by Fulbright CLEA. This is a supplemental award I received on top of the research grant to prepare me linguistically for my fieldwork. Research grant I am currently in Kunming, China (in the far southwest of China near the border of Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam) conducting a research project at Yunnan University until October, 2016. You can see a copy of the research plan I originally submitted here. Overall my aim is to better understand how greater economic development and trade in a rapidly growing region of China has impacted the development of local English language teaching in Kunming's secondary school system. I hope to interview local education officials in Kunming as well as visit a hand full of secondary schools to interview principals, vice principals and English language teachers as well as observe English language lessons. I also would like to meet with groups of students in these schools to talk to them about their experiences learning English. |